LSU coach Les Miles, seen here before his Tigers faced South Carolina on Sept. 22, played and coached for Bo Schembechler at Michigan.

By Glenn Guilbeau Gannett News Service

BATON ROUGE  LSU football coach Les Miles broke down while discussing his alma mater of Michigan and his LSU players Monday, but it remains unclear if the tears were for leaving or staying.

"They've not called," Miles said at his weekly media luncheon in reference to Monday's formal announcement that Michigan coach Lloyd Carr is retiring.

"It's unfair to Michigan to say that they should. It's unfair to me and my team. I promise you this, what I'm doing is what you should do — let it rest. I'm playing football for LSU. I love this team."

Miles teared up and paused for 15 seconds before composing himself. "And I'll not do anything to hurt it," he said as his voice broke. "Any questions?"

Miles might not have been called, but he might soon face a major decision: Stay at LSU, where he is 32-5 in three seasons and on the verge of playing for the Bowl Championship Series title, or return to his roots.

Miles, 54, played guard for the late coach Bo Schembechler in 1974 and 1975 and was a graduate assistant under him and later a full-time assistant. After five years at Colorado, he returned to coach the Michigan offensive line in Schembechler's final years as coach from 1987-89 and remained under new coach Gary Moeller from 1990-94. An Elyria, Ohio, native, Miles met his wife Kathy Labarge, a Flint, Mich., native, while she was an assistant women's basketball coach at Michigan.

"I feel for him because I know he's torn," said former Michigan quarterback John Wangler, who lived with Miles when both were grad assistants in the early 1980s. "I know Les loves Michigan, and he loves LSU. If Michigan were to offer, I'm sure he'd have to strongly consider it. If it happens, it's going to be an extremely difficult decision for him. Les is a very loyal guy. That LSU team means everything to him. He and his family are having the time of their life at LSU, but he loves Michigan, too."

Miles stopped short of a definitive answer when asked to say unconditionally he will be the LSU coach next year: "I'm not going to talk about jobs, don't care about jobs. I don't want to involve myself in that thought process. It's counterproductive to preparation. I don't care about it. Don't ask me that question anymore."

Later, a reporter said, "You could end the speculation by saying, 'I'm definitely not going.' "

Miles first said, "Yeah, I want to stay just where I'm at." Then he said, "I don't want to think about it, don't want to envision it, going to go forward and prepare. I'm not going to give any thought to it. I'm going to just kind of leave it alone. That's the best thing for me, certainly the best thing for my team."

LSU athletics director Skip Bertman said he realizes there is a chance he could lose his second coach in four years. Nick Saban left LSU for the Miami Dolphins on Christmas Day 2004, a year after winning the BCS championship with the Tigers.

Miles is already under a new, five-year contract at $1.8 million a year, but LSU chancellor Sean O'Keefe has said numerous times he will be glad to do more to keep Miles at LSU. Should Miles win the BCS championship, his contract states he has to be among the top three paid college coaches in the nation, which would bump him to the $3.5 million range. The same contract says Miles must pay LSU $1.25 million if he becomes the Michigan coach.

LSU Board of Supervisors member Charles Weems, who was key in the searches for Saban and for Miles, is confident Miles is staying put.

"We fully recognize that there are pulls to Michigan for him, but there are many pulls for him to LSU, too," Weems said. "I think what we have on our hands now is not a Michigan man, but an LSU man."

At least one player didn't sound so sure.

"Michigan is a very prestigious university, and we all know of Coach Miles' past ties to that school," said tailback Keiland Williams. "The reality is that coaches have to do what's best for their families — this is a business. You can't fault anyone for that."

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